Rice wine is made from fermented glutinous rice in which the sugars are transformed into alcohol by yeast. It is a sweet wine of low alcoholic content that by many accounts goes well with seafood and meat.[Photo provided to China Daily]

His aim is to redefine Chinese rice wine, he says, and he has poured more than 10 million yuan into developing rice wine products, each taking him an average of three years.

"Chinese wine should have a new representative, and rice wine should be it," he says.

"For thousands of years, Chinese rice wine has been a homemade product, and there has been innovation that has helped it develop to suit peoples' tastes. This wine can be served with dinners, and we reckon it has earned a right to be part of wine tastings."

Nuoyan is the only Chinese rice wine on the 1,000-wine list of the chain TRB. The chain's owner, Ignace Lecleir, says he came across Nuoyan original rice wine two years ago and loved it instantly.

"The nose and flavor are very different. When I smell the wine, I feel acidity, but then, on the palate, it tastes like peaches and pears."